Recipe: Honey Molasses Wheat Bread

I created this wonderful bread recipe a few years ago while dating a past girlfriend. Our relationship was rather volatile, but one thing we enjoyed together was an excitement for randomly making baked goods. It was on one such random day that this bread recipe was born. We ground up some wheat berries, making our own flour, and then started throwing ingredients together. She really had no idea how to make bread, so when I say “we” I really mean me. Regardless, this wonderful recipe was the result. The bread recipe lasted, but the girlfriend did not.

Now, years later, I’m a loving husband to Sadie. As such, I’ve been keeping this “old girlfriend” bread on the down low. But the dust of life has settled enough to now bring this bread recipe out of the vault and share it with Sadie and my readers. It is a wonderful wheat bread with the most delightful deep brown color. It is made mostly with whole wheat flour, but the addition of white flour gives the loaves a soft and fluffy texture. Molasses and honey add a nice strong flavor and slight sweetness; and the longer baking time creates a perfectly crunchy crust. It is exceptional with any gourmet sandwich creation, or with just some butter and jam. Whatever the sandwich occasion, this bread will serve it well.

With paddle attachment connected, turn mixer on and stir until combined.

Butter, Molasses, and Honey Mixed Together

Add yeast mixture and mix until combined, scraping down bowl if necessary. Gradually add half the flour and mix until flour is incorporated. Replace paddle attachment with dough hook, and continue to gradually add the remaining flour.

Gradually Add Flour While Mixing Dough

Knead in mixer for 7 minutes. Dough should be elastic and slightly tacky. Roll dough out onto a hard surface and finish kneading by hand for 2-3 minutes.

Dough on Hard Surface

Knead Wheat Dough by Hand

Place dough in a large oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and place in a warm area to rise.

Wheat Dough in Oiled Bowl

Cover Bread Bowl with Damp Towel

Allow dough to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Punch dough down and place on work surface again. Evenly shape the dough into a large rectangle, and then divide into 3rds. Shape each 3rd into a loaf and place into well oiled bread pans. Place pans into a warm place and allow dough to rise until elevated over the tops of the pans, roughly an hour.

Let Dough Rise Above Pans

Bake at 375º for 40 minutes. Drop loaves out of pans onto a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing into them.

Loaves of Honey Molasses Wheat Bread

Recipe by Jothan Yeager, 2010

I created this wonderful bread recipe a few years ago. I decided it was time to bring it out of the vault and share it with my readers. This wonderfully colored wheat bread makes the best sandwiches! It is made mostly with whole wheat flour, but the addition of white flour gives the loaves a soft and fluffy texture. Molasses and honey add a nice strong flavor and slight sweetness; and the longer baking time creates a perfectly crunchy crust. It is exceptional with any gourmet sandwich creation, or with just some butter and jam. Whatever the sandwich occasion, this bread will serve it well.

Author: Jothan Yeager – The Bald Gourmet – 2010

Recipe type: Bread

Servings: 3 loaves

Ingredients

5 teaspoons active dry yeast

4 cups warm water

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup molasses

½ cup honey

2 teaspoons salt

6 cups whole wheat flour

4 cups white all purpose flour

Instructions

Dissolve yeast in water.

Combine butter, molasses, honey, and salt in a stand mixer bowl. With paddle attachment connected, turn mixer on and stir until combined.

Add yeast mixture and mix until combined, scraping down bowl if necessary.

I’m mixing this now, but it’s not forming a ball, the dough is really wet. I keep adding more AP flour, but I’m on my 2nd cup! Is this ok? This is my 2nd time making this recipe as this has happened both times!

Hi Becky. Yes, that’s fine and what your supposed to do. The amount of flour needed when making bread varies by region and weather. Sometimes I don’t need to add any extra flour, other times I need to add 3 cups! It all depends on the moisture in the air and such. Alternately, you can try cutting back on the water some next time if you’d like then add more if needed.

So tell me if you can, what you think about wheat bread that I always make with 15C wheat flour, yeast, 2/3C veg. oil, 2/3C honey, salt, etc… Do you think I can substitute the honey for molasses and the oil for butter in my recipe like yours? Have made mine for years and yields 5 loaves, but want to incorporate molasses somehow and your recipe sounds divine!!! And your large pans look way cool. Hope I can find on Amazon or something. Thanks!

Hi Jodi. I think you could interchange butter and oil at a 1:1 ratio for each other without any issues. For the molasses, I would try 1/3 molasses and 2/3 honey to start and see what you think. Any more than that and the molasses was too strong for my liking when I was creating this recipe.

i’ve been baking for over 25 years and it’s hard to find whole wheat recipes like this.. Great job!! subbed half of the liquid for buttermilk… had to use it up.. and works awesome, used rye instead of the wheat flour as I didn’t have much of that.
Adding the cereal is an awesome idea as I see someone did.. Wherever you got this recipe it’s a keeper for sure as it is so flexible to be able to add all those ingredients… love the amount of honey you use and the fat, perfect balance!!!
I see that it can make three big loaves so I just let it rise on it’s own in a bowl then turned it over onto a cookie sheet and blasted it at 450 and what a loaf!!!

Hi Damien. Knead the bread by hand for about 10-minutes, or until it is soft and elastic. As for my loaf pans, I’m fortunate enough to have some commercial size 12×5 loaf pans. You might be able to find some of that size at restaurant/baker’s supply stores, but I’ve never seen them at residential stores (Williams Sonoma, Target, etc.). That’s not to say that standard “residential” size pans won’t work just fine. I recommend just finding the biggest size you can, and go with those. The bread making and baking process is exactly the same, you might just have to split the dough into 4 loaves instead of 3.

I love this bread recipe, it is now my go to recipe for bread. I modify it depending on what types of flour I have at the time. I usually use a mixture of AP, 12 grain, spelt, oat and sorghum flours and add in some hemp hearts and psyllium husk and use coconut oil in place of butter. It makes beautiful rolls as well. I divide one of the thirds into 12 balls, let them rise then bake them for 20 mins.

Thanks for commenting on our Honey Molasses Wheat Bread recipe, Amanda. Glad you like the recipe! It is a mighty tasty bread. I think I’ll have to make some this weekend now. I love your use of different flours, and I love the rolls idea. I bet this bread does make some tasty soft rolls. I will try that with one of the loaves.

I just made this recipe and added some 10-grain cereal, oats, and sesame seeds. I took it out 5 minutes early because it was getting too dark on the edges. Came out perfect! So delicious! Thanks for the recipe. Can’t wait to use it for sandwiches tomorrow.

Welcome!

I'm Jothan Yeager and I am The Bald Gourmet. After years of experimenting in my kitchen, creating delicious food and eating at amazing places around the world, I wanted a place to share my experiences with everyone. Thus the Bald Gourmet was born. I hope to open the doors of great food and great cooking to you, to inspire you to reach beyond prepared boxed meals, and to teach you of a world of deliciousness that has brought joy to me and those around me. Please enjoy the adventure which is The Bald Gourmet and share it with those you love.